MR. ZUCKERMAN: Thank you for your time. As he mentioned, my name is David Zuckerman. I'm a vegetable farmer as well as a state representative.

You've heard many of the concerns that people have today. Trade issues, (inaudible) companies dominate the producers and manufacturing jobs. For instance going down to Mexico, without looking at socio-economic and working conditions.

In the fall in Seattle we need to continue to put this back (inaudible) working conditions for people. Long-term economic impact of opening up trade.

And I personally have a lot of compassion and concern about genetically engineered foods which, as you all know, is a hot topic for a lot of western Europe in particular, and I think as people in the United States learn more about it, it will grow as a topic here.

The reaction of Monsanto trying to make big media was very negative. The large companies have learned. And in fact much more fruit is produced and (inaudible). So I would just urge that you really look at genetic engineering as a topic in trade. (inaudible)

I think taking genes from a species and injecting it into an animal is fundamentally (inaudible) going to a level of basic needs of humans and food. There's not been scientific evidence, moral or public support for that as a future for our food supply. The issue is a large one.

If you take a nut gene from some nut and put it into some sort of vegetable, summer squash, and all of a sudden you've got hives or worse because they are allergic to nuts. We have no information about the foods. What are the ramifications of that, and to me, I think that it's a frightening prospect.

And another aspect of genetic engineering for me, as well, technology and the corporate control of our food supply and as the seed side of terminating technology is developed, we have Monsanto, I believe some of the (inaudible) in Canada for saving seed, mutant seed, that he had an old seed, and that person didn't either buy (inaudible) their seed but the gene got transferred into their crops during the pollination. And if their market gene gets transferred into your crop, why can't the technology also transfer it into wild plants or neighbor's crops? And I think those are very, very serious concerns. (inaudible) But also the global impact of the potential for terminating technology to get into plant species, and then it would go extinct.

We deal with major global issues every day. And wars, famines, they have been going on for centuries. And I think those are tremendous global issues that can be dealt with every day. But if we alter our food source, there is a reason we alter it on purpose or accidentally, and it may be irretrievable. And so as a global issue I think our food supply is at that level or a greater level than many of these other issues that we deal with on a global scale (inaudible) have trade sanctions. They can hopefully stop enough research of this whole sort. But those are my comments. Thank you.

MR. ALLBEE: Any questions?

MR. SCHUMACHER: One, I think, on the allergen issue is one that we are really worried about. Let me assure you. (inaudible) We are looking very hard at those issues. (inaudible)

MR. ZUCKERMAN: One other point of comment. In relating to some of the genetic engineering, corn or potatoes, BTE is a common use pesticide, organic farmers can use it because it's an absolute dry product, doesn't have chemicals or large synthetics. Things like BTE, one of the resources we have to deal with pests, are going to become useless in five or 10 or 15 years.

Monsanto admitted that when they went up to get authorization (inaudible) a couple years ago. And because it will build a resistance to that spread. (inaudible) Labor costs would be phenomenal. So the impacts on growing food in the long-term may also impact (inaudible) corn as well.

It's going to create a global condition dominance because the only other remedy for those pests will now be synthetic chemicals, and for the foods you have to buy synthetic chemicals, which is a demand, a demand for a product that I don't think is fair to the average person. So that's a concern.

MR. SCHUMACHER: Let me ask you (inaudible).

MR. ZUCKERMAN: Well for me, researching on any of those issues, those doors don't necessarily have to be closed. But if you look at most of the food, medicine we have tried to introduce to other developed countries, to deal with food supply issues, typically they have the long-term (inaudible). We introduced (inaudible). Worlds where now we're looking at the soil, (inaudible). And there has been some studies in terms of international (inaudible).

My sister worked at international economics in Ethiopia studying the impacts of the some of the green evolution issues and whether there is an economic gain for local farmers or not. Actually should be fairly conclusive, so technically it's a wash, and yet we are not introducing chemicals into their soil. That doesn't really seem like a positive for me.

But when you look at the possibilities of increasing the yields by looking at a resistant input into the saga, I would like to see where that gene is coming from, and what again the long-term -- I mean these things I think if they are researched, they need to be for 15 or 20 years before they get introduced on a mass scale.

A lot of these things once they are put out, inject the foods, it's an irretrievable situation. It's a negative impact. And that's where my concern is. Pharmaceuticals, because we have people getting sick, they do and a very quick study. And then you learn 20 years later we have problems with (inaudible) babies. Once the genetic strains are out there, you can't go out and (inaudible) work milfoil or zebra mussels.

Once things happen in the natural world out there and are released, there's no way to go back. That's my concern, is in the long-term impacts of these things.

I'm not convinced that we really can have wonder foods.

MR. SCHUMACHER: Do a three-way Internet. (Inaudible). Interesting issue. Thank you for being with us.